Direct Fusion Drive

Direct Fusion Drive (DFD) is a conceptual, low radioactivity, nuclear-fusion rocket engine, designed to produce both thrust and electric power, suitable for interplanetary spacecraft.

[4] In the DFD, plasma, a collection of electrically charged particles that includes electrons and ions, fuse together at high temperatures (100 keV), releasing enormous amounts of energy.

That energy is put through a closed-loop Brayton cycle generator to transform it into electricity for use in energizing the coils, powering the RF heater, charging the battery, communications, and station-keeping functions.

[11] Stephanie Thomas is vice president of Princeton Satellite Systems and the principal investigator for the Direct Fusion Drive.

[4] The company's modeling shows that this technology could propel a spacecraft with a mass of about 1,000 kg (2,200 lb) to Pluto in four years,[8] enabling deep space missions.

This allows more options for instrument selection and laser/optical communications,[4][8] and could even transfer up to 50 KW of power from the orbiter to the lander through a laser beam operating at 1080 nm wavelength.